Participant, The ‘There and Back Again’ Research Study

The ‘There and Back Again’ research study explores patient, family, and care providers’ experiences of transition between referral centres and rural home communities after discharge. We are interested in patient, family and caregiver stories about navigating the healthcare system to allow the patient to return home.

Open to: Patient partners from the Interior region

Lead Organization or Department

Interior Health--Research Department

Aim

Returning home from the hospital is hard for both those who need to travel to access care and people working in health care. In rural towns, getting back home can be even harder if people need to move from hospitals in cities to a smaller hospital before going home. If people go straight to their rural home, they often need to arrange local services and supports. This research study is trying to help us understand more about the experience people have when they receive health care in a city away from their rural home and then find a way back home. By hearing stories of patients and their families, plus stories from care providers, we can understand how to improve healthcare services for people living in rural communities. This research study will document peoples’ stories of transition, focusing on individuals (and their families and healthcare providers) who left their community for health care, resided in a referral hospital, and returned home. The research question focuses directly on patient experience: What are the experiences of patients, their families, and nursing care providers in repatriation from secondary or tertiary care back to rural communities?  

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of consult on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will listen to and acknowledge your ideas and concerns, and provide feedback on how your input affected the decision.

Eligibility

Inclusion criteria: • Be able to participate in spoken English, either directly or through the involvement of a significant other who can support translation • Be over the age of 18 • Have capacity to consent to their participation • Have had an experience involving admission to a referral care centre as a patient, family member of a patient OR an experience of refusing care at a referral care centre because of issues related to rurality • Have had this experience within the last 12 months, and with a minimum of 2 months between the date of interview and the date of discharge and/or refusal of care

Logistics

Number of vacancies: 24 Eligible participants will be contacted by email or phone to set up an interview. Interviews will be about 60 minutes long and can be held via phone or video conference.  

Reimbursement

No expenses are expected for this telephone or video conference engagement.

Background

This research is partnered between Interior Health’s Research Department and the University of British Columbia. Further information will be provided via email to interested patient partners. More information can be found at the website.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Jacquelyne Foidart
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Thompson Cariboo Kootenays
250.879.1077
jfoidart@bcpsqc.ca